Staunton vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1860-1896, 1887-02-04

to DyiN
have you to say?"
care of me fifty years
now glory be to- God al
Amen, amen, amen, amenw
Powson, after preaching the gospafs
years, what have you to says" My
bed is bed of roses" dying Doctol(
Thomas Scott, wha have you to say?" "This
is heaven begun" dying soldier in the last
war, what have you to says" "Boys, am
going to the front" dying telegraph
operator on the battlefield of Virginia, what
have you to say2" "The wires are all laid,
headquarters" dying Paul, what have you
to say?" II am ready now to be offered, and
the time of my departure is at hand; have
fought the good fight, I have finished my
course, I have kept the faith. o death,
where is thy stings grave, where is thy
victory? Thanks be unto God, who giveth
us the victory through our Lord Jesus
Christ" o my Lord, my God, what delu-
sion; what glorious delusion! Submerge
me with it, fill my eyes and ears with it, put
it under my dying head for a pillow-this
delusion-spread it over me for canopy, put
it underneath me for an outspread wing-roll
it over me in ocean surges 10,f 90 fathoms
deep! o, if infidelity, and if att eism, and if
humiliation are reality, and the Christian
religion is a delusion, give me the delusionl
The strong conclusion of every man and
woman i'll the house is that Christianity pro-
lucing such grand results cannot be delu-
sion. A lie, a cheat, a swindle, an hallucina-
ton cannot launch such glory of the CEN
turies. Your logic and your common sense
convince you that bad cause cannot produce
an ilustrious result; out of the womb of such
q monster no such angel can be born. There
are many in this house this morning, in the
galleries and on the main floor, who began
with thinking that the Christian religion was
stupid farce, who have come to the
conclusion that it is reality. Why are you
here to-day? Why did you sing this song?
Why did you bow your head in the opening
prayer? Why did you bring your family
with you? Why, when tell you of the end
ing of all trials III the bosom of God do there.
stand tears in your eyes hot tears
but tears OF joy such as stand in til
homesicl children far away at scho
some one talks to them about goin
Why is it that you can be so calmly
sive to the death of your loved ono
whose departure you once WI
angry and SO rebelliouss There is
thing the matter with you. All
friends have found out there is
change. And if some Of you wou
your experience, you would give it in
ariy style, and others giving your expe
"ould give it in broken style, but the one
perleace would be just as good as the QtS1
Some Of you have read everyth;sE4
are scientific and-5ylnu are 49, -, aud yet
if I shoulasask you: the most
sensible thing you ever would say:
The most sensible thing 1 ever did was to
give my heart to COG"
But there may be others here who have not
had early advantages. and if they were asked
to give their experience, they might rise and
give such testimony as the man gave lii
prayer meeting when he said "On my way
here tonight, met a man who asked me
where / was going. said: i am going to
prayer meeting He said: There are o
good many religions, and l think the most of
them are delusions; as to the Christian
religion, that is only a notion, that is
mere notion, the Christian religion
I said to him. Stranger, you see that
tavern over therep Yes he said, 1 see
it, DO you see meY Yes, of course see
YOU Now, the time was, as everybody in
this town knows, that if had quarter of a
dollar in my pocket could not pass that
tavern without going in and getting a drink:
all the people of jefferson could not keep me
out of that place; but God has changed my
heart, and the Lord Jesus Christ has de-
stroyed my thirst for strong drink and there
is my whole weeks wages, and I have no
temptation to go in there; and, stranger
if this is notion, l want te
you it is mighty powerful MOTTO
it is notion that has put cloth9
on my children's back, AID it is a notion th
has put good food on orr table, and it is
notion that has flied my mouth with thank
giving to God. i'aid, stranger, you had be
ter go along With me, you might get religio
80, Nss ople are getting religion now.
- Well, we WEI soon understand it ALL You
Ife and mine will soon be over We will
soon come to the last bar of the music, to th
! last act of the tragedy, to the last page Of
the book-yea, to the last line and to the lasi
word, and to you and to me it will eitherf
midnoon or midnight.